[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] PLATTDEUTSCHER CLUB

[Otto]

Evening Mike,

One cannot ascertain from the word "Platt-deutscher"
the 'national' background of a person.

"Northern Germany" is a political designation, not an ethnic one.
One must do a background research on the persons claiming membership  
in the Club.

Do not get caught up in the National boundary German bit.
National/Political boundaries change-Ethnicity does not.
People live 'in their dialects of language', even in Germany.

Flat, or Low German, is the varied dialect of the lowland/coastal  
GERMANIC people.

Great confusion exists in naming Germanic dialects.
For instance, linguists never refer to 'official' or 'standard'  
German as 'hochdeutsch'.
To them 'high' German is German spoken in the high elevation.

There is a tendency to call all other dialects other than 'official'  
German, 'Plattdeutsch'.
This is not correct.

"Platt ist Flatt" . . .  Flat is flat, all of the low areas are flat.
The term 'Low' German (Niederdeutsch) and 'Plattdeutsch'(Flat German)  
are used interchangeably.
Depending on the speaker, Platt 'may' refer to 'Plattdietsch',
a dialect spoken by only SOME Mennonite.
see:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Germanic_languages
An excerpt from the article:

Low German (North Saxon):
Ik segg et/dat up Nedderdüütsch/Platt(düütsch).

Low German (Mennonite Plautdietsch):
Ekj/Etj saje et op Nadadietsch/Plautdietsch.

Dutch:
Ik zeg het in het Nederduits/Platduits.

Afrikaans:
Ek sê dit in Nederduits/Platduits.

Standard German (High Germanic):
Ich sage es auf Niederdeutsch/Platt(deutsch).

Eastern Yiddish (High Germanic):
Ik zogs oyf niderdaytsh. (.איך זאָגס אױף  
נידערדײַטש)

English (Anglo-Frisian):
I say it in Low German/Flat German

For those wanting an example of Neiderpruessisch/Lowprussian
(Tharau/Tarau, East Prussia)
(this while they play Friedrich Silcher's melody -1827)

http://www.euronet.nl/~jlemmens/tharau.html

Read Simon Dach's "Anke von Tharau" in the original verse.(-1637)
Read it in the Plattdeutsch of the area.
Read it in the high German of J. G. Herder
(Anke later rewritten by Herder in Hochdeutsch -1778)
"Ännchen von Tharau"   (little Annie from Tarau)

Learning to sing it will earn a free beer or so at times. . .

On May 31, 2006, at 12:50 PM, Mike McHenry wrote:

> Thanks to all for your comments. This is in a 1911 city directory.  
> There are
> several German clubs in it. Does this suggest that the members of  
> this club
> were all from northern Germany?
>
>                                         Mike

. . .  Otto

                      " The Zen moment..." wk. of March 5, 2006
                      ________________________________
                         "Remove what isn't... What is remains."